Winston Churchill feared that Falklands would be invaded by Japan, new book reveals

WARTIME prime minister Winston Churchill feared the opening of a new front in the Falklands, a scholarly historical book reveals.

Winston Churchill showing off gives his famous v-sign as he opens new RAAF headquarters in Croydon[GETTY]

He told his commanders he was worried the South Atlantic islands would be invaded by Japan.

It could have been used as a base to harry shipping.

He was so concerned he sent about 1,000 soldiers to protect the islands and ensure Britain would not have to retake them. His fears were aired 40 years before Argentina invaded, triggering the 1982 Falklands War.

Churchill’s South Atlantic nightmare is revealed by historian Stephen Haddelsey.

Sukey Cameron, of the Falkland Islands Government Office in London, said yesterday: “In the ­Second World War there were more troops on the Falklands than now. It just shows how ­strategically important the ­Falklands have always been.” Churchill spoke of his fears when ­Britain was near its lowest ebb in the war.

In the ­Second World War there were more troops on the Falklands than now. It just shows how ­strategically important the ­Falklands have always been.

Sukey Cameron

In 1942 Hitler’s armies were ­blitzkrieging through the Soviet Union, Nazi U-boats were threatening to starve Britain out, and the country suffered arguably its greatest defeat when its forces had to surrender ­Singapore to the Japanese.

Two months later Churchill told his commanders that he feared Japan would turn to the Falklands.

At the time the islands’ only defence was provided by 300 local volunteers, armed with a few dozen rifles.

With British forces overstretched, America and Canada turned down his requests to provide a garrison.

Churchill then ordered a battalion of soldiers on the way to India to be diverted and sent to the Falklands.

The military presence was scaled down in 1944, but Royal Navy explorers were sent to the region in a top-secret mission called Operation Tabarin to underline the validity of British claims to the Falklands. Haddelsey said: “The expedition was intended to bolster a sovereignty that had been weakened by decades of apathy and indecision by successive British administrations.”